Wide receiver isn't widely viewed as one of pro football's more cerebral positions, but in Greg Jennings' eyes nothing is more critical to his game than outthinking the opposition.

Often described as a stylish, sleek wide receiver, Jennings certainly is that but also a whole lot more.

To the naked eye, it's legs and hands and talent that have made Jennings one of the half-dozen or so finest wide receivers in the National Football League.

To Jennings, playing one of the NFL's glamour positions is mostly a matter of what's between the ears.

"I approach the game a little differently," Jennings said late last month. "I think the No. 1 thing that separates the men from the boys (at wide receiver) is the mind-set. A lot of guys talk about being the best but some don't really have the mind-set that it takes to be the best.

"Honestly, it's more of a mental (test). My physical assets are there; I'm going to display those. It's your study habits, your work habits throughout the week. That goes a long way."

After tight end Jermichael Finley blew out his knee early in Week 5 last season, the Packers turned to Jennings and he probably performed as well as any wideout ever has in the 20-year run of the West Coast passing game in Green Bay.

In those last 11 regular-season games, Jennings led the NFL with 98.4 yards per game. His four-game playoff average was 75.8.

About to turn 28, Jennings said that if the pinnacle of his career wasn't at hand it couldn't be far off.

The stealth that Jennings brings to his profession each week is a seven-day journey that begins at a tape machine. Some of his work is a solitary exercise, one that he relishes. But he also studies with teammates and coaches, especially John Rushing, the new assistant wide receivers coach under Edgar Bennett who worked in quality control for two years before that.

"I find that the quality control guys spend the most time in the building watching film," said Jennings, ever looking for an edge. "They have some of the best knowledge you can absorb because that's all they do."

Jennings scrutinizes schemes, cornerbacks and safeties. There are no surprise-free games on offense with the clever NFL defenses of today, but Jennings does his best to minimize the unexpected.

Part of his motivation is self-preservation. From his perspective, the next wide receiver that gets cold-cocked in the secondary is the next example of a wide receiver who didn't do his homework.

"By studying, it eliminates a lot of blowup hits," said Jennings. "(Fear) really doesn't come into play too much. If you're in the slot and you're going across the middle, it takes time for you to get that out of your mind. That's when you really, really want to increase your study so you kind of have a feel for where defenders are going to be.

"When I do my part, in that way Aaron (Rodgers) and I are on the same page. I'm not going to run into that blowup shot and you better not throw me into that blowup shot."

Of the 30 wide receivers drafted in 2006, four have had great careers. The New York Jets' Santonio Holmes and Jennings are almost identical physically, whereas the Miami Dolphins' Brandon Marshall and the New Orleans Saints' Marques Colston are almost big enough to be tight ends.

"I'm not an arrogant guy," said Jennings. "But I'll definitely take myself over any one of those guys."

Before Jennings entered the league out of Western Michigan, one scout referred to him as a "good little player." Unlike dominating big men such as the Houston Texans' Andre Johnson, the Arizona Cardinals' Larry Fitzgerald and the Detroit Lions' Calvin Johnson, Jennings plays almost an old-fashioned type of game. An apt comparison might be former St. Louis Rams superstar Isaac Bruce.

His pure speed, at least in 2006 when he was last timed in the 40-yard dash, is average to good, not great. Scouts, after analyzing his hand-held and electronic clockings at the combine in 2006, put him down at about 4.47 seconds. As the scouts would say, he plays faster than he times.

Jennings stopped wearing a mouthpiece during his collegiate career, then resumed after suffering a concussion in August 2009 during an exhibition game in Arizona.

"Forget the game," he recalled. "For 15 minutes of my life I did not know what took place. It opened my eyes a little bit."

"I don't do a lot of hitting, and I pride myself in not getting hit a whole lot," he said. "The safer the better, the lighter the better."

Although Jennings' typical sneaker size is 12, he laces up cleats that are size 13½.

"I play on my toes so I need just a little bit more room so my toes don't bang against the tip of my cleat," he said. "I do a lot of cutting. I'm very abrupt in my stops, my cuts, my transitioning."

Now it's game time. As Jennings breaks the huddle and runs to the line, he searches for clues on what the defense might be doing. Regardless if he's on the line of scrimmage or off, he never looks at the official for confirmation that his location is onside. By now, he just knows it is.

In the Packers' playbook can be found instructions telling wide receivers exactly where to line up for every route in each formation and personnel grouping. The very foundation of Mike McCarthy's passing game is based on a disciplined, synchronized approach between the quarterback and receivers, and spacing is a part of it.

"Truth be told, and the coaches know this, I really don't go off those route alignments," said Jennings. "I sway off those a little bit. The way I play the game, I want to set my defender up. I don't want to predetermine what I'm going to do based on my alignment."

For example, when a wide receiver lines up in the middle of the yard-line numbers painted on the field, the odds are fairly high that he will be running an out-breaking route because he's given himself considerable room to the sideline.

Jennings, on the other hand, might line up a yard outside of the numbers even with an outside route in order to keep the cornerback guessing. Upon takeoff, Jennings then will get back on the proper stem, or track, of his pattern and run the out anyway.

It has been said the best wide receivers make every route look the same. Jennings doesn't think that's possible, partially because he runs routes at different speeds.

"For me, a lot of routes have to be at a controlled speed but at a fast pace," he said. "So that you can break down, get in and out of your breaks but still be explosive at the same time.

"I can know I have an in-breaking route. But if I beat the defender to where he's (lined up) inside, now I'm like, 'Shoot, I've either got to go over the top or have to slow down so I can kind of push him by me and get inside.

"So there's a lot of things that go through your mind when you're running a route depending on what kind of route you have. Whether it's an out-breaking or in-breaking route, the depth, where the corner's playing you. There's a lot of things that come into play when you're actually in the route."

Beginning in his first five minutes of tape study and continuing all during the week in practice, Jennings hopes to gain even the slightest edge to make the cornerback hesitate.

"Every route that I run, I want it to look like at least one other route," he said. "You want it to mirror something that you've presented to them recently.

"I just want to put a slight bit of doubt in his mind. 'Is he going deep or is he going left or right? I don't really know.' That's all I need."

Not too many years ago the Packers used the so-called "passing tree" in which the basic routes were numbered 1 through 9. Now the McCarthy Packers have developed a system of words in which to communicate routes.

When Rodgers is under center, his straight drop-back choices are one step (a called run adjusted by signal to a hitch), three steps, five steps or seven steps. Obviously, three-step routes must be quick, five-step routes are intermediate depth and seven-step drops are the deepest and often come after play-action fakes.

Does Jennings time the break on his routes to correspond exactly to the depth of Rodgers' drop?

"It's not so much syncing my steps with his steps," he said. "It's more about timing, a feel, knowing and seeing what he sees. It's one thing to just go out there and I see it my way, but he's seeing it from a different angle.

"That's our No. 1 thing. He's like, 'Greg, what do you see?' I tell him what I saw. In the same breath, I'm saying, 'When you see it you let me know how it looks from your vantage point.' "

Say Jennings is running a "puma" route, or 15-yard comeback, when he's isolated on a side. With Rodgers' powerful arm, it's as impressive a pass play as the Packers have in their arsenal.

"Three-step drops are like pitch and catch. Those are pretty simple," Jennings said. "But when you get to five-step drops and I'm running a 'puma,' that time clock goes off in my head and I know I've got to break my route off. So, if he is looking at me, I know he's coming with that ball right now.

"You develop that over a time of being together."

The Packers teach receivers to set up with their inside foot in front. Jennings alternates his front foot "just to mess with the defender."

On average, Jennings said 8 seconds remain on the play clock when he reaches the line and sets up. Peering inside, he must have vision to the ball about to be snapped by center Scott Wells. At the same time, he must be aware of hand or verbal signals from Rodgers that would give him a route other what was given in the huddle.

If time permits, Rodgers will give a hard-count cadence in an attempt to force a deception-minded defense to declare its intentions.

During the hard count, Jennings must focus on not moving while also glancing at the secondary. He has looked at the defense on his way to the line. Maybe now, given the hard count, the coverage will have become "blatantly obvious," according to Jennings.

"I'm looking at the safety," he said. "If I have a route that has an adjustment to it based on the coverage, as I'm running my first few steps I'm still looking at that deep safety.

"If that deep safety moves to the middle of the field I know it's a version of a one-high look, which will give me Cover 1 (man to man) or Cover 3 (three across). If he stays on that hash (mark) or widens, I know it's some type of two-shell. Now my route can change depending on which one it is: Cover 2 (two deep) or Cover 4 (four across, or 'quarters.')"

Also of primary concern to Jennings is the depth and leverage of the cornerback across from him. If the huddle call is for Jennings to run a 5-yard hitch, and if the cornerback is in press coverage, the universal adjustment is the sideline fade. If the cornerback is playing off, the hitch can be run.

So the ball has been snapped, the coverage read, the route run and the break made. Now the receiver looks for the ball that might or might not be thrown to him.

"I'm trying to make sure I'm creating separation and giving myself a chance to pluck the ball without having the guy draped over me," Jennings said. "Because the harder you make the catch the more likely it is for it to be an incompletion. My biggest thing is selling my route to get that defender to believe I'm doing something other than what I want to do.

"You can have the best corner in the world. But with a great ball and a great route there's no way he can stop anything."

Catching one of Rodgers' fastballs is "just second nature," according to Jennings. So is what happens once the ball is tucked tightly away under his arm.

"Honest to God, it's backyard football," he said. "I tell my nephew this all the time, 'Uncle doesn't want to get hit. Uncle is scared to get hit.'

"When guys are going fast, it's a lot easier to make 'em miss. Because big people, once they have to break down and kind of stop, it's pretty much over for them . . . but then you get those freak athletes like Clay (Matthews)."

Jennings has a much different responsibility on about a third of his plays. When the Packers run the ball, he normally is asked to block a defensive back.

As a blocker, Jennings will never be confused with Pittsburgh's Hines Ward. "I hate it, absolutely hate it," he said. "I'm not a physical guy. I don't like a whole lot of contact."

Then Jennings remembers that the linemen have to block every play and the running backs need his effort.

"So I'll do it," he said. "For the sake of the team, I will do whatever it takes."

In Jennings' judgment, the No. 1 factor that determines if he has a good game is the number of passes thrown to him. That number can hinge on a variety of factors, including how defenses play him, the intensity of the pass rush, the quarterback's accuracy and McCarthy's play selections.

"And when you have six guys, from myself all the way down to the tight end position, it is slim pickings, I'll tell you," Jennings said with a big smile.

Either way, Jennings isn't one to complain. At a position overflowing with prima donnas, he has always seemed to be one of the least selfish standouts.

McCarthy has called Jennings a "class act." Consummate professional might apply as well.

About Bob McGinn

Bob McGinn is a beat writer and columnist covering the Green Bay Packers. A six-time Wisconsin state sportswriter of the year, he won the Dick McCann Memorial Award in 2011 for long and distinguished reporting on pro football.